The Wrong Worries  —  In case you had any doubts, Thursday's more than 500-point plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average and the drop in interest rates to near-record lows confirmed it: The economy isn't recovering, and Washington has been worrying about the wrong things.

Obama's Hip-Hop BBQ Didn't Create Jobs  —  POLITICO EXCLUSIVE — The President's private 50th birthday bash, not listed on his public schedule: His gift to the press corps was a travel/photo lid shortly after 4 p.m., prompting what pooler Julie Mason called “general cheering in WH workspace.”

Click on the video link to see raw video of police and sheriff's deputies investigating the scene.  —  Did you witness the attacks outside State Fair, or were you attacked?  Were you hurt?  E-mail us your story!  —  WEST ALLIS - Witnesses tell Newsradio 620 WTMJ and TODAY'S TMJ4 of a mob …

Rick Perry's College Transcript: A Lot Of Cs and Ds … WASHINGTON — As governor of Texas, Rick Perry has pursued a controversial agenda that would gut Texas' vaunted public university system in favor of something that more closely resembles a business.  —  As the Washington Post reported on Thursday …

John Kerry: Media Has “Responsibility” To “Not Give Equal Time” To Tea Party  —  Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) told MSNBC's “Morning Joe” on Friday that the media has the responsibility to not give equal time or credence to the Tea Party's views: SEN. JOHN KERRY: “And I have to tell you, I say this to you politely.

Can Obama's 2012 hopes survive 9%+ unemployment? … The consensus used to be that President Obama might be OK if the jobless rate fell below 8 percent by Election Day.  That seems increasingly unlikely.  The economy is, at best, in slow-growth mode, just churning and churning, creating few jobs.

Teachers union disavows internal memo endorsing deception of parents  —  American Federation of Teachers officials have disavowed an internal report after it was posted on the union's website following its annual conference, embedded on each of its 19 pages with the union's logo and signed by a union official.

Tzipi Livni Praises Obama for Pressuring Netanyahu, Suggests U.S. Should Keep Up the Heat  —  An interview with the leader of Israel's largest opposition party  —  Tzipi Livni, the leader of Israel's Kadima Party, the largest opposition party in the Knesset — and the largest party in the entire Knesset …

Nader: ‘Almost 100 percent’ chance of a Democratic primary challenger to Obama  —  Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate and perennial third-party presidential candidate, announced last month that he would work to find a Democrat to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.

GOP austerity agenda damaging Obama's reelection chances  —  The Republican austerity agenda is continuing to hamper job growth, making Obama's defeat in 2012 all the more likely.  —  Today's jobs numbers were better than expected, but as Matthew Yglesias points out, a fundamental problem remains …

Behind a GOP Contender's Iowa Surge  —  MARION, Iowa—To understand why presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has surged in Iowa, watch when she is handed a baby.  On a recent stop here, she took off her bracelet, dangled it before the infant and cradled him while he teethed on the pearls.

$30 Million Pouring In to Influence Wisconsin Recall Elections  —  A voter in Glendale, Wis., casts a ballot in a Democratic primary on Thursday, July 12, 2011, as part of recall efforts against Republican state Sen. Alberta Darling.  Darling is one of six Republican state senators being targeted …

TSA Confiscates Pregnant Woman's Insulin, Ice Packs  —  Security Tells Woman Isulin Vial Was An Explosives Risk  —  DENVER — A Denver couple has filed a formal complaint with the Transportation Security Administration after a pregnant woman's insulin and ice packs were confiscated by screeners at Denver International Airport.

The Death of Super Tuesday?  —  The venerable one-day delegate jackpot has been a mainstay of presidential primaries, but all that will change in 2012.  McKay Coppins on what it means for Palin, Romney, and Perry.  —  Pundits have hyped it.  Candidates have built entire campaigns around it.

Potential jurors shouldn't be dismissed for being gay, court told  —  An appellate panel hears arguments in an assault case against a gay inmate in which a lesbian was dismissed during jury selection.  Defense lawyers want the panel to consider constitutional issues.

Walsh tries to clear air at town hall-style meeting … WAUCONDA - When controversy erupts, public figures can hide or face their critics.  —  U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh seems to have chosen the latter, facing his constituents for the first time after the debt ceiling battle and allegations …

Huntsman woos New Hampshire moderates  —  Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) — On a breezy evening in August, Jon Huntsman walked into a house party filled with undecided New Hampshire voters and started shaking hands.  —  Across from the table of hors d'oeuvres, State Rep Joanne Ward, R-Stratham, noticed something was off.

Lessons of the Crisis  —  The debt-ceiling debacle revealed that politics is broken in every possible way and there's no point in explaining complicated matters to the American people.  —  It is hard to remember a more dismal moment in American politics.  The debt-ceiling crisis and the agreement …

Harvey hosts O money meal  —  A high-powered, intimate, $71,600-a-couple fund-raiser for President Obama hosted by Anna Wintour and Harvey Weinstein will be held at the movie mogul's New York home next week.  —  The expensive affair — billed on an invitation obtained by Page Six as a …

Wall Street Volatile After Big Plunge  —  Stock indexes on Wall Street bounced around like a yo-yo on Friday, a day after they lost 4 percent of the value.  —  After a quick sigh of relief on better-than-expected jobs numbers, Wall Street moved lower as fears continued to hang over markets …

‘Rent is Too Damn High’ candidate facing eviction from rent-controlled apartment  —  The man who ran for governor because the “Rent is Too Damn High” claims he's being kicked out of his Manhattan apartment — because the rent is too damn low!  —  Jimmy McMillan says he pays $872.96 …

U.S. Payrolls Rose in July; Jobless Rate at 9.1%  —  Employers added more jobs than forecast in July, the jobless rate fell and wages climbed, easing concern the U.S. economy is grinding to a halt.  Stock futures rallied and Treasuries fell.  —  Payrolls rose by 117,000 workers …

Isn't it time to admit our system is broken?  —  (HARRY HAMBURG/ASSOCIATED PRESS) My Bloomberg column today is about what happens when Congress can't agree to act.  The standard theory is that nothing happens.  Congress simply gridlocks.  It paralyzes.  The standard theory is wrong.

Adventures in tea-party cognitive dissonance  —  THIS (gated, sorry) was the most amazing thing I read today.  It's a couple of weeks old, but bear with me here.  It comes from a post by Judson Phillips, the Tennessee lawyer who heads Tea Party Nation, a far-right pressure group …

The Solution  —  A three-stage compromise to reduce the debt on a scale never before seen  —  Conventional wisdom holds that the congressional super-committee established by the debt-ceiling deal to propose further deficit reduction will go nowhere.  I'm not so sure.  There is a grand compromise to be had.